


In the Light of Truth

by liketoblazeallmorning



Category: Babylon Berlin (TV)
Genre: Attraction, Berlin (City), Blow Jobs, Co-workers, Comfort, Confessions, Dorks in Love, Drug Addiction, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Restaurants, Secrets, Sharing a Bed, Truth, Weimar Germany, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:49:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28637268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liketoblazeallmorning/pseuds/liketoblazeallmorning
Summary: Some events that possibly took place after Season 3.Gereon and Charlotte are working on their verbal communication trying to explore and understand their feelings.
Relationships: Gereon Rath/Charlotte Ritter
Kudos: 19





	In the Light of Truth

After the stock market crash _the Burg_ was buzzling like an ant hill. Gennat was desperately hurrying to find capable candidates for the forensic unit after Ullrich killed his assistant and got imprisoned. Böhm took a long sick leave after his nervous breakdown at the stock exchange. Overall situation in Berlin deteriorated as unemployment, poverty and debts outburst overnight. It provoked the growth of crime rates and _Inspektion A_ was flooded with multiple new cases.

Gereon and Charlotte almost lived in _the Burg_ that became their refuge to avoid dealing with their personal challenges. Gereon was reeling at his breakup with Helga, and the idea she chose Nyssen over him was particularly unbearable. It was the second time she changed him for someone richer and better connected. Charlotte was terribly concerned about her little sister Toni who fled from their shared flat and vanished. Their elder sister Ilse got almost blind and Ilse's crazy husband Erich pursued Charlotte blaming her on that, as she paid Ilse's unsuccessful eye surgery.

The inflation raised prices, and Charlotte was barely making the ends meet. Her salary of a criminal assistant was enough to pay the rent and have one simple meal a day. She became even slimmer than before clearly suffering from malnutrition. The unhealthy paleness of her complexion suggested anemia.

*

After lunch on Wednesday Gereon was looking for Charlotte as he wanted to take her to the interrogation of the main suspect in case of the recent double murder near the casino. He knew Charlotte might be in the archive as instead of a lunch break she was doing some work of stenotypist to earn extra money. Gereon quietly entered the archive and right away heard the voices of Charlotte and Gräf who couldn't see him behind the stacks of maps. Not that he intended to eavesdrop but...

"...a hundred more pages of protocols for you," Gräf said. "But they need to be done by Friday morning."

"Good, thanks, I am taking them," Charlotte was satisfied with the offer.

"You are working non-stop," Gräf sighed. "I haven't seen you dancing for ages."

"No time for fun."

"And you firmly decided not to do night shifts anymore?" Gräf lowered his voice. "No one would judge you, bunny. I know you are struggling."

"I am not a whore anymore," Charlotte sounded fierce. "I needed hundred marks to pay my sister's eye surgery, so I made an exception once picking a task in Luxor. It was too gross even for me."

"Oh!" Gräf sounded sympathetic. "Hundred marks per shift! I imagine they pushed you to the limits of your tolerance."

"In Moka Efti booze and crack always helped me a deal. In Luxor I was sober and blindfolded, and then there was a gang of ten. No, never again."

Gereon heard Charlotte's quiet weep and quickly escaped from the archive. He just could not suddenly step in that kind of conversation. She was so sincere with Gräf. The level of communication she never afforded with himself.

Gereon was shocked at what he had just overheard trying to get rid of terrible images flashing in his head as he climbed the stairs to the interrogation room. He sympathized with poor Charlotte, her petite body brutally exploited. What fear she felt being blindfolded and attacked by a gang of predators. And once again she sacrificed herself for her rather ungrateful relatives who later came to _the Burg_ with accusations and embarrassed her in front of the colleagues.

Her life was a bloody battlefield just like his own. They often understood each other without words, however talking very little about their personal issues. Charlotte was smart and resourceful, also reliable. Her bright smiles and sly sneers projected positive energy and enthusiasm wherever she appeared, and usually Gereon couldn't help but smile back. They worked daily side by side perfectly complimenting each other. Gereon tried to keep their relationship strictly professional as after the accident when Charlotte had been taken hostage by Ullrich, the whole _Inspektion_ found out he had a weak spot for her. He did not realize how frantic he was during the hostage standoff. So Gereon was trying to prove Gennat and others that he and Charlotte were able to work effectively together respecting the chain of command. Once Charlotte was already appointed to work for Böhm and Gereon did not want that to happen ever again.

À deux their interaction was less formal, they were more friends than colleagues. Though they still addressed each other _per Sie_ and Charlotte called him _Herr Rath_ or by his rank. Gereon surely found Charlotte eminently attractive. He remembered all so well the sweetness of her lips when they kissed at Gräf's birthday party, gentle touch of her fingers on his cheek and that fire flaming in her eyes as she glanced at him after the kiss when he was leaning against the door frame. That evening confirmed that their attraction was mutual making them both restless. Gereon did his best to stifle his passion which he knew would put them into a tough position as he was her superior officer. However, sometimes his hand was unintentionally removing a loose curl hanging over Charlotte's face or brushing her arm when entering the elevator. When caught by surprise she slightly blushed at such gestures but most often ignored them or raised her brow for a split second and then dropped it back hiding a tiny smile.

**

The interrogation of the croupier went well. He described the car that was parked by the casino right before shooting and disappeared shortly after. It was a beige luxury car Mercedes-Benz 630K, a six-seater. The croupier recognized the model as the owner of the casino Herr Kretschmann used to have the same car, only a four-seater. There were not many of those registered in Berlin, so it was possible to check each and maybe catch a suspect.

After the interrogation Gereon found Charlotte at her desk upstairs.

"We need to check every beige six-seater Mercedes-Benz 630K registered in Berlin," he got straight to business. "I have just interrogated the croupier who arrived at the casino right before shooting. That big expensive Mercedes grabbed his eye, and when he ran outside after shooting, it was quickly driving away."

Charlotte was carefully listening to him making notes in her notepad.

"How many people were there in the car? Did he see the license plate? And why have you not taken me to the interrogation?" Charlotte had many questions to ask.

"You were not at your desk, so I decided to interrogate him alone," Gereon shrug his shoulders. "Presumably there were two people inside the car, and he did not see the plate."

"Alright, I will check the register right away," Charlotte promised.

He did not even have to ask. She always knew what to do. "Good. Thanks."

At 8 p.m. Charlotte entered Gereon's office handing him a list of vehicles.

"Hundred of Mercedes-Benz 630K's registered in Berlin," she reported. "But fortunately, only 22 of them are beige. And 9 of beige cars are six-seaters, the rest are four-seaters."

Gereon could hardly conceal his amusement at how quickly and effectively Charlotte made that list. To surprise him even more she showed the map of Berlin and its suburbs with red circles corresponding to the addresses of the car owners.

"Great. I will send Henning and Czerwinski to check the owners of the vehicles tomorrow. Maybe some of them have alibi which will make the list even shorter."

"And they should remember to ask these people if someone could borrow their cars on the night when the murders were committed."

"Sure," Gereon nodded.

"Anything else I could do today?" Charlotte asked.

"It's getting late, so enough for today, thank you," Gereon smiled.

"Good night then," Charlotte took her coat and hat off the rack and left the room.

Gereon knew she didn't go home but headed to the archive. He didn't like the idea she was all alone there at night. After the incident with Ullrich he was subconsciously afraid something awful could happen to her again. He decided to continue with his paperwork too and later check on her in the archive.

Shortly before midnight Gereon left his office and went downstairs. The corridors of _the Burg_ were dark, emergency lamps on. The archive was the only room that still had all the lights on. He found Charlotte at her desk sound asleep near the typewriter, her head resting on her folded arms. She didn't hear him coming, so Gereon called her by the name.

As she didn't respond he carefully tapped on her shoulder, "Charlotte." She made a subtle movement but didn't raise her head. Gereon got scared and grabbed her by the shoulders lifting and pushing backwards. Finally, she opened her eyes and stared at him blinking and saying nothing.

"Are you alright? It's almost midnight, I will drive you home."

Charlotte pulled herself up and slowly gathered the papers into the file.

"I am just a little tired and dizzy," she admitted with a small voice.

Charlotte's face was bloodless, and her fingers were not as dexterous as usual. She was not simply tired but truly emaciated.

"Can you walk to the car?" he asked.

She nodded briefly. Gereon helped her to put on the coat and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Lean on me," he offered.

It took them a while to get to Gereon's car that was parked near the metro station. He drove her to Spenerstraße.

"Is your sister at home?" he asked.

"No, Toni is gone... escaped," a tear suddenly rolled down Charlotte's pale cheek.

"Oh. I am sorry," Gereon said. "I will show you up to the door."

Charlotte's rented room was located at the attic of four-storey building. He carefully guided her through the staircases. That effort demanded the rest of Charlotte's energy, she was breathing heavily clinging to his sleeve. He just couldn't leave her alone in such a weak condition and walk away. They entered Charlotte's room and Gereon helped her to take her coat off. He also hung his own coat and hat to the hook. Charlotte took a few steps and climbed into her bed. It was cold in the room and Gereon decided to light a fire in the stove. She didn't object.

To his big surprise there were some men's belongings all around. A shaving kit, a pair of big leather boots, a couple of scuzzy cloth caps.

"Do you live with someone here?" Gereon sounded startled.

"I have this flat at nights and during daytime it's used by the bartender who works in the _kneipe_ downstairs," Charlotte explained. "The rent is twice cheaper that way."

"Oh," Gereon was at a loss for words again.

How comes he knew so little about her life while spending most of the days with her. The stove was finally burning but it would take a while to warm the room.

"Come here," Charlotte asked, only her eyes peeping from under the bedspread.

Gereon obediently came up and sat on the edge of her bed.

She glanced at him imploringly, "I am freezing. Could you hold me, please? Toni always did."

His mouth instantly became dry and his heart missed a beat. To lie in Charlotte's bed and hold her, no, it was definitely a bad idea. But she looked really miserable and shivered from cold. So, he took off his jacket and gun holster arranging them on the chair and lay down near Charlotte. She turned her back to him and quietly repeated, "Hold me, please."

He wrapped his arm around her waist, and she pushed herself into his embrace. Though separated by a few layers of fabric she felt the heat of his body and his heart beating fast against her back. She perfectly fit into his arms, fragile like a tiny bird. Soon she relaxed, it was warm and safe in his embrace and the world around her sank into darkness. In a few minutes Charlotte was in a deep sleep. Gereon enjoyed having her so close and desperately tried to calm down. Sometimes he was indulging himself dreaming about lying in Charlotte's bed, his imagination occupied with dark lustful fantasies. But now she was clearly unwell and needed only his comfort and warmth. The womanly scent of her body and hair made him tense, so Gereon shut his eyes tight battling those dangerous sensations and desires.

He woke up in a couple of hours. The stove was not burning anymore, and it was dark in the room. Charlotte turned around in her sleep and now lay close to him burying her face on his chest, her arm over his shoulder. Their bodies entwined, and his cock was hard in response to their closeness. He tried to to extricate himself carefully removing Charlotte's arm.

She noticed that and whispered, "Don't go."

"I will not," he promised.

"It's hot here, I am sweating," Charlotte sat up in the bed and pulled off her dress staying in a thin beige camisole. "You must be hot too. Take off your waistcoat," she commanded and Gereon obeyed before she got an idea to assist him with that. It would simply be too much.

She was lying beside him half undressed, which was both heaven and hell. His cock thick and hard trapped in his trousers, Gereon prayed she wouldn't notice it.

"Are you alright?" she was slightly worried. "You are panting. Did you have a nightmare?"

He didn't answer as his voice would surely reveal his huge lust. Resting her left elbow near his arm, she gently started stroking his cheek with her right hand, tenderly pressing her lips to his neck. She intended to comfort him, but her touches had the opposite effect, heating him even more.

"Charlotte," he pleaded.

He didn't know what he was pleading for. Did he want her to stop or to go further? She understood him all at once sliding her hand down until it reached the front of his trousers. He groaned and tried to move away.

"It's fine," Charlotte said. "I can ease you if you let me."

What a proposal! At this time of night Gereon was often desperately balancing on the verge between drug induced dreams, reality and fantasies. He was not quite possessing his mind, willingly surrendering to his repressed sexual impulses. He awkwardly opened his suspenders, unbuttoned his trousers and let them down together with the underpants, freeing his cock that rose right away.

"Gereon, trust me," Charlotte whispered. "I will not hurt you."

She called him by his Christian name, and it felt so good. What else he could do than to give in to her... She went down on him, first taking his cock to her hand, feeling its size and shape. Then she pressed it to her sealed lips, slowly gliding them along from root to apex. Finally, Charlotte unsealed her lips and guided it to her mouth. Gereon was almost exploding enjoying the sensation of her hot slick mouth tight around him, her mussed curls tickling his lower belly. Charlotte started gliding back and forth, caressing him with her tongue as she moved and paying special attention to the head of his cock.

Gereon felt the orgasm approaching quickly, she needed just a couple of minutes to undo him. His fingers twitched at the bedclothes and Charlotte heard his low, half-stifled moan. When close to the edge Gereon tried to push her head away but Charlotte told him, "Relax, let yourself go."

He had never come to woman's mouth before. And to be precise had never been treated orally like that before. It was considered filthy and sinful in his religion. Helga would never touch his cock with her mouth, and there was no way he could ever ask her for that. Charlotte noticed his hesitations, his ongoing struggle with insecurity. Her hands gently stroking his thighs and belly she murmured, "It will be all good."

She started moving her lips and tongue around his cock quicker and he did just as she told him, closing his eyes and letting himself come to the depth of her mouth, filling it with a warm load. His body convulsed at the intensity of that strong sensation. For a while he couldn't move and could hardly breathe, numb in his feet and hands. The stolen fruit was surely the sweetest. 

Charlotte never swallowed when she pleased her clients orally, she always spat out. It was the first time in her entire life when she swallowed doing it instinctively and getting slightly scared at what she did. It was completely against her principles but with Gereon her mind, body and senses all worked differently than with other men. Gereon somehow composed himself and pushed his trousers up, then hastily buttoned them feeling awfully messy and embarrassed. Charlotte again read his mind.

"You have never come to someone's mouth before and I have never swallowed, so it's a draw," she sneered. "Let's try to sleep a couple of more hours."

After being shaken that much Gereon zonked out right away. So did Charlotte, curling beside him.

They woke up as the alarm clock rang at 6 a.m.

"Are you alright?" she asked quickly opening her eyes and checking on him.

"Of course," he answered shortly avoiding eye contact. "It was you feeling unwell yesterday."

"I feel fine, good as new," Charlotte said briskly and added, "Let's not make things complicated, please."

Gereon blushed against his will and turned away leaving the bed and putting his suspenders and waistcoat on. Charlotte also got up and took her brown and black striped dress off the rack to wear for the day.

Then she came up to Gereon looking in his eyes and smiling almost shyly, "Maybe it will do no harm if we could help each other sometimes. What do you think?"

Gereon stared at her for a short while, his eyes glassy and expressionless, and then he looked down at his hands. They were slightly trembling.

"Excuse me, I need to go home to arrange myself. See you in _the Burg_."

He grabbed his coat and hat and rushed out of her flat. Charlotte was all in mixed feelings. On one hand, Gereon was attentive and kind taking care of her yesterday when she was exhausted. She didn't even dare to dream she could get him to her bed so spontaneously and easily. On the other hand, he seemed to be racked by remorse for what happened at night, his face reflected shame and self-resentment. And she was stupid enough to offer her services once again in the morning. Damn.

***

Gereon was hurrying home to wash up and take his morning shot. He was too confused to focus on anything, shame and bitterness suffocating him. He wished he could be the right man for Charlotte and not a miserable trembling junkie worth nothing. What a woman! Someone to die for... And she spoke about helping each other but Gereon knew he could not help her as he was broken himself. Merely a pawn in Anno's dreadful game, drugged with barbiturates and morphine, brainwashed and half-way to become a human machine. At the back of his mind Gereon realised his destiny was to be an obedient tool in some nasty plot developed by his evil elder brother. It seemed he did not live anymore but was just dragging out his wretched existence.

And Charlotte knew none of that. Well, she was aware of his shellshock and how he was trying to deal with it, but not of Anno and the treatment that was driving him crazy and making delusive. Charlotte deserved the truth, but it was too dangerous to involve her into that huge mess. However, he hated to hurt her, which he already did by his inconsiderate behaviour in the morning. She looked so disappointed and perplexed.

Gereon arrived at _the Burg_ at 9 a.m. to find Charlotte at her desk. She had apparently been working for a good while surrounded by all sorts of files and papers, a few cigarette stubs in the ash tray and one forgotten between her lips. She noticed that Gereon was watching her through the shutters of his office, something unsaid in his eyes. Charlotte figured out he was not dramatic about their last night anymore, something else was bothering him, something more meaningful. But he was doubting. Charlotte was quite sure that after all hesitations Gereon would say nothing, shrinking into himself like he always did. Suddenly she felt desperate to drag him out of his shell.

She decisively marched to Gereon's office, "I need to know."

His eyebrows rose at her questioningly, "I beg you pardon."

"Everything," Charlotte panted out. "The truth. Whatever it is," her dark eyes darted flashes.

Gereon was driven into a corner, looking down and dreading Charlotte's piercing gaze. The word "truth" activated something is his brain, as Anno was always demanding the truth during their therapy sessions.

"I am waiting," she insisted leaning forward, her hands on her sides.

It was useless to resist when she was as determined. He sighed helplessly falling into the chair and tore a piece of paper from his notepad.

"You are very smart Charlotte, so I can cut a long story short. I will write down a few words, you come up and read them. And then I will burn this paper. Think of what you read and later you can ask questions. But not at work."

Her eyes were shining in triumph, "That's a deal."

She sat down in the chair opposite him and lit another cigarette borrowing it from his packet without even asking for permission. It took him a couple of minutes to write what he wanted.

Gereon frowned and made a faint gesture inviting her to come up. He held the paper in his hand so that Charlotte could read the following words arranged in an uneven column:

**_brother_ **

**_Helga Rath_ **

**_war_ **

**_betrayal_ **

**_death_ **

**_drugs_ **

**_Berlin_ **

**_resurrection_ **

**_therapy_ **

**_human machine_ **

There was one more word down below hidden under Gereon's thumb. She opened her mouth to ask him, but he was already setting his lighter to the paper. Just before the paper turned into ashes, she distinguished that last word - " ** _Charlotte_**." Her own name.

She briefly nodded and exhaled a small cloud of smoke, "Oh yes, we need to chat after work."

****

Gereon spent the day speculating about their upcoming conversation even though there were plenty of other things keeping his mind occupied. Henning and Czerwinski brought a new suspect who owned a suitable car and had no alibi. However, the interrogation gave little results as the man was denying he had ever parked his car near the casino.

Later in the evening when others left Gereon went down to the archive to fetch Charlotte. This time she was working, quickly typing the text of the protocol.

"I am almost done," she said. "Just ten minutes."

Gereon impatiently walked the floor, smoking two cigarettes in a chain revealing his uncertainty and nervousness. Finally, Charlotte was ready, sliding the papers into the file and tidying her desk.

"Let's go out for late dinner," Gereon invited.

She silently put on her thin brown coat and followed him to his car parked near Alexanderplatz. He drove her to the expensive restaurant at Lindenstraße with a porter by the front door. Charlotte got astonished at his choice.

"Diplomats make dinner appointments here," Gereon explained. "It's one of the rare places in Berlin to have a confidential talk over the food without being overheard."

Gereon had made a table reservation, so he told his name to the waiter who courteously greeted them near the front door, took their coats and then led them to a small private cabinet. The interior of the place was elegant yet simplistic, oak wall panels, a round table for two covered with a navy velvet tablecloth, two tall candles set in the antique brass candlesticks, fine china dinnerware and cut-glass goblets. The waiter escorted Charlotte to the table and helped her to take her seat. Charlotte looked through the menu rolling her eyes at extremely high prices. They ordered pan-seared medium-rare steaks and a bottle of red wine. The waiter took their order and disappeared closing the door behind him.

"This place is a little classier than Aschinger," Charlotte grinned looking around.

It would be great to have dinner with Gereon here, but under different circumstances, light-minded and properly dressed for the date. The privacy of this small cabinet could set the mood for flirting and romance. Charlotte furrowed her brow banishing those dreams from her mind and getting right to the point, "I can tell your story based on my speculations, and you make corrections."

Gereon nodded in agreement.

"Helga is your brother's wife. You were at war with your brother and somehow betrayed him. He died. You felt guilty and started drugs to deal with it. Also, you started boinking Helga."

He couldn't help a bitter smile at her word choice, "Right."

"Then you arrived in Berlin to have a new life and got involved into some therapy that is aimed to turn you into a human machine. What else?"

Gereon composed himself and uttered, "My supposedly-dead brother Anno is not dead. He is the doctor who implements this therapy. He brought to the end my ten-year long affair with Helga. She's got together with Alfred Nyssen."

Gereon was apparently still getting over their breakup. Charlotte had noticed his sadness and a heightened emotional state quite long ago and knew Helga was the reason for that. She frowned, "She is not worth the sorrow. Helga and your brother are both detestable, worth each other."

"What do you mean?"

"She secretly moved to Nyssen's hotel and had an abortion shortly before we solved the case in the film studio. It was your child, right? I bumped into her by accident in Wedding. Our old neighbour in the barracks performs backstreet abortions you know."

Gereon looked astonished, his eyes wide open.

"Oh, she obviously told you she had a miscarriage," Charlotte guessed.

Gereon said nothing, as their order arrived. The waiter demonstrated the bottle of French wine and ceremoniously uncorked it, placing the cork in front of Gereon for inspection. After that he poured a small splash of the wine in Gereon's goblet waiting for further examination. Gereon swirled and sniffed the wine and took a liberal sip to check its mouthfeel and flavours. Apparently, he found the wine acceptable nodding to express his final approval. The server poured the wine into Charlotte's goblet and then finished back with Gereon's. Gereon nonchalantly followed those etiquette rituals once again revealing his high social background. Charlotte liked to watch him eating, Gereon's table manners were impeccable yet a little old-fashioned. He was given a strict Catholic upbringing probably saying grace before meals.

When the waiter left Charlotte changed the subject, "What is that nonsense about the human machine? What is Anno's plan? Revenge? Or something bigger? Can you stop it?"

"I have no idea what his plan is," Gereon sighed. "He has an extensive network of clients including politicians and some prominent figures of the underworld. A few times they saved my life and took me out of troubles. If I refuse to go on with the therapy, Anno will kill me."

Charlotte thoughtfully chewed her steak, "Oho."

"Now you know why I was discrete about that. Knowing too much is dangerous."

"The last word you wrote. I saw it. "Charlotte". So?"

He was again hesitant, "Charlotte... I cannot offer her anything except my own confusion." Gereon looked away and nervously bit his upper lip.

"It's very good that you told me the truth. High time! You are not alone anymore," she said squeezing his hand over the table. "Gereon, we'll figure this out somehow."

"He induces hypnosis in me," Gereon revealed. "And broadcasts our sessions on radio to his other patients who also suffer from shellshock. The Armenian provides me with radio frequencies to follow Anno's broadcasts."

"I want to listen to the next one," her eyes shone, and she took a sip from her glass. Challenge accepted. Nothing thrilled Charlotte more than solving creepy mysteries.

"No!" Gereon got scared. "That's a deadly danger, Charlotte. You already know too much."

He shook his head clearly regretting about opening up to her.

"You saved my life twice putting your own at risk," she reminded. "That bond links us together till the end. You would do anything for me. I am ready to do anything for you. As simple as that."

Suddenly Gereon was on the verge of tears, overcome by confusion, relief and gratitude. She sounded so affirmative, tightly gripping his hand with her warm fingers.

"And I am quite sure we are able to help each other," Charlotte sneered to cut the tension.

"Probably," Gereon smiled back a little bashfully. He bent over the table and placed a gentle lingering kiss on her palm. His sad hazel eyes confirming he was giving her his breath.


End file.
